Monday, December 14, 2015

Forgetting August - J.L. Berg

I cannot wait until March for the next book, I just can't! This one blew all my expectations away, completely broke the NA mold, and had me shocked with each twist and turn. At just $3.99, I really suggest you go and pick this one up.

Rating: 5 StarsPublished: December 2015Many thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Everly has done all she can in the last two years to forget August, to forget the terror, the confinement, and even the love. With her wedding planning to Ryan going full swing, the last thing Everly expected when she answered the phone was to find out he was awake. Two years, August is awake after two years in a coma, but he remembers nothing, his previous past is just the few items he had with him at the hospital. There's a photo, of a beautiful red-head, and he knows she holds the key to his past. After finding out the monster of a man he used to be, he knows he has to do everything in his power to be a new August, deserving of Everly's love. Everly doesn't know how to feel about August being away, part of her screams to stay hiding away in her happy life with Ryan, the other half wants to see who this new August could be. Having his life back may come at a price however and once the secrets come out, one of them has to make a choice about a future.

I just want to wrap Everly and August up in a bubble and not let the real world get near them. Their romance and chemistry is so strong, but the past is so darn haunting. I loved the characters of August and Everly, J.L. Berg did an excellent job of writing compelling characters with pasts that continue to effect their daily life. I love when a writer uses the past to make a character this way. They were so complex, with several layers defining who they were. I didn't expect to find myself rooting for them, especially with how amazing Ryan seemed to be as a man for Everly, I just was drawn to the second chance at romance with August. It was incredibly interesting to read the who he used to be, who he became, and how he was trying to find a new him without memories. It was a really unique take on the amnesia story line and once I started getting glimpses at the past, I was so intrigued.

The minor characters are just as complex as the main characters, I was really impressed with how much detail Berg gave about the friends, the coworkers, and those passing through day to day. It gave a lot of depth to the book and allowed me to envision each scene. The setting of San Francisco was perfect to, as a California native it was really easy to imagine the characters in the different areas of town. J.L. Berg has a beautiful art to her descriptions, something I appreciate, especially when I can physically see the dresses as Everly tries them on and see the curling, long hair on August when he awakes.

While this book does end in a cliffhanger, it doesn't make me want to run away and not finish the series, if anything, I want book two right now. There are a lot of questions presented through the first half of Forgetting August, several answered in the second half, and more questions presented right at the end as well. We don't know how our characters are right now, it's like being stuck on a roller coaster at the top waiting for it to go down. There is a lot of suspense to this book, far more than I expected. While we end with a huge reveal (I MEAN FREAKING HUGE), there are a lot of things that leave you questioning everything. On top of that, there are a lot of answers that could have a lot more detail, something I think we'll see in book two. It's definitely a dual POV book that both gives and takes from the readers.

I can tell you this, I had no clue what was coming and I still don't. I definitely adored the characters, the writing, and I am looking forward to book two. I really suggest this for all my New Adult readers; it's not cliche, it definitely bends the mold we've grown used to, and will totally take your attention away from anything else.